Recent projects are summarised below. Please click on the project to read the reviews.
Given a 5-star review by Norman Lebrecht, this was McFalls' first release on Delphian Records and is a recording of a piece which we commissioned from Gavin Bryars in 2007, 'The Church Closest to the Sea', alongside two other recent works. 'Eight Irish Madrigals' is a setting of poems by Petrarch in a translation by John Synge. 'Epilogue from Wonderlawn' is the final episode from music which Bryars wrote for a dance piece in 1994.
A long-awaited collaboration with Scottish singer Michael Marra took the group from Edinburgh to the Scottish Highlands and beyond for a string of dates in 2010. The group recorded all the gigs and released a live CD on Delphian Records later the same year.
Praised by Folk Radio UK as 'one of the most innovative albums of the year', Birds and Beasts has attracted a lot of attention since its release in May 2010 on Delphian Records. A long-planned collaboration with Mr McFall’s Chamber was never realised during Martyn’s short lifetime. Here, Robert McFall has put together a programme of his own sympathetic arrangements of Martyn’s music alongside original works by Fraser Fifield.
In December 2010 the group braved the arctic temperatures in Scotland to put on a series of concerts that looked north towards Scandinavia and Russia. Along with pianist Graeme McNaught, this programme showcased music by Olli Mustonen, James Clapperton, Edvard Grieg and Dmitri Shostakovich.
Mr McFall’s Chamber were joined in this programme by renowned clarinettist Maximiliano Martín, and jazz musicians Paul Harrison (piano) and Stuart Brown (drums). The concerts featured two world premieres from two of the UK’s most successful jazz composers Tim Garland (Chick Corea band) and Martin Kershaw (Trianglehead, Martin Kershaw Quartet). And in true McFalls style, this eclectic programme is completed with works by Frank Zappa, Astor Piazzolla and Raymond Scott.
The group has developed a long-standing collaboration with Chilean singer Valentina Montoya Martinez, and in 2010 toured a programme of her own songs, along with works by Piazzolla, across Scotland. McFalls was joined on this occasion by two tango players of world renown - bandoneon player Victor Villena and violinst Cyril Garac, both of Quinteto el Después in Paris.
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